HOTD SAN DIEGO EXODUS
by Raven091
Summary: While conducting Search and Destroy ops against zombie infestations, 2 Division operatives receive a distress call from a marine fire-team holed up in the San Diego Convention Center. They found a group of survivors but are running low on ammo and are requesting immediate assistance and evac. With friendlies currently engaged, the agents proceed to their location to assist.
1. Prologue

**H.O.T.D. SAN DIEGO EXODUS**

 **PROLOGUE:**

3 days... All it took was 3 days for San Diego to turn from a busy city into quiet necropolis.

When the Infection first hit, nobody knew what was happening. Some thought it was a mass protest; others thought it was a riot caused by some perceived insult on a sensitive subject. It never occurred to anyone that it was the beginning of a world-wide Bio-hazardous Outbreak

By the end of what was known as Z-day, most of the city's emergency services were beginning to or were already overrun by the infected or what the people were know calling zombies. On Z-day +1, the U.S. Military and National Guard were called into service. While the regular military would focus on fortifying defendeble locations like bases and building complexes outside of the cities, National Guard units were deployed in their respective states to affected cities in an effort to combat and contain the infection. However, despite being briefed on the infected and how to eliminate them; the California National Guard encountered heavy resistance and suffered heavy casualties on the units that were tasked with entering the city to evac survivors and establish F.O.B.s (Forward Operating Bases) to serve as evac zones. This situation was mirrored in other cities in the country.

At this point, the Firestorm Protocol was put into effect. The JSF was currently in a supporting role, but with Firestorm being declared, all regular military units were put under the command of the Joint Strike Force. When the JSF took command and assed the situation, they realized that with the rising number of infected, containment was no longer an option. With this info, the commander of the JSF, Lieutenant General Scott Mitchell, ordered all units, JSF and Regular Military, to identify civilian strongholds in their assigned zones and to reinforce and defend them until they can be evacuated to more secure locations.

The way this was carried was simple. Teams of JSF Spartans and Pioneers would conduct Deep Strike Insertions in infected cities. Their destinations would be survivor strongholds detected by aerial recon. Before the teams move in, the JSF would attempt to contact these strongholds to assess whether the civilians were friendly or hostile. If friendly, they would be informed that help is on the way. If they were hostile, Command would mark the location and notify all friendly units to avoid it until a unit can be dispatched to pacify or eliminate the hostiles.

The Military weren't the only ones actively operating during the outbreak. For the Private Military Company, Raven Tactical Solutions, LLC or Raven PMC offered the use of its troops and resources to combat the infected. Raven troops were instructed to report to the nearest JSF units and inform the commanders that Raven troops are now under their command. Raven air forces assisted with the movement of men, equipment and supplies for the military and other crisis forces in their zones. Their logistical units helped ease the strain on military supply lines. This allowed the JSF to focus on the combating the infected without worrying about their supply lines being overwhelmed. Raven Combat Teams also participated in combat operations against the Undead. Both forces also helped in evacuating civilians from the infected zones.

There was one agency that was prepared for this type of scenario. This agency had proven itself during the Manhattan Bio-terrorist Attack that crippled the city and forced a quarantine to be placed. They were instrumental in preventing the total collapse of society in Manhattan as well as helping the civilians trapped there. They were able to track down and eliminate those responsible for the attack. They were the Strategic Homeland Division or SHD. In the field, they are known as the Division. Just like the Manhattan Bio-Attack, Division operatives are active and operating in the field doing what they can to protect civilians and combat the infection.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 2

" _ **Division Command, This is Alpha 1 Actual. The President and the First family are secure but his protection detail was wiped out. Orders?" "Command to Alpha 1 Actual, Understood, Your team is tasked to protect the President and his family until further notice. How copy?" "Roger that Command, we'll protect them with our lives, Alpha 1 Actual out."**_

" **Radio Transmission between SHD XOF (eXtreme Operations Force) Squad and Division Command."**

Z-Day + 2

13:00 Hours

San Diego, California

Red Zone- Sector 2

"Don't look back, just run!" Shouted the man to his companion. She nodded and ran faster in an attempt to outrun the horde of infected following them. "Maya, make a left at the corner!" Shouted David. "Got it, WATCH OUT! ZED ON YOUR RIGHT!" yelled Maya. David barely managed to the dodge the zombie's lunge as it stepped out from the car wrecks littering the streets. While David was busy dodging crawlers, Maya was at the corner of the street that David had indicated earlier, keeping an out for anymore zeds.

'Other than the ones following us, the street looks zed free' thought Maya, as she kept an eye on the horde halfway down the street from where Dave and herself had just come from. She turned to her right to see David jog up. Other than looking a bit out of breath, he seemed fine and bite-free. "Where do we go from here?" he asked. "Let me see..." replied Maya as she reached into her pack for her notebook. "If I recall correctly, there should be a police checkpoint near here." " David, can you see what street this is?" "Hold on." he replied as he looked for a street sign. Spotting it a few feet away, he said, " We're on the corner of 10th Street and Fox Ave." Maya nodded her head in acknowledgment and looked through her notes. " 10th Street and Fox Ave..." she muttered while flipping through her notebook pages until she found a page listing police checkpoints by street. "There it is!" she exclaimed "According to my notes, there is a checkpoint about 5 miles north of here. If we're careful not to attract anymore infected, we can find help there or at least some supplies." " I hope we find some weapons as" said David while looking at the battered bats they carried. "Our bats aren't going to last much longer."

As Maya was putting her notebook in her backpack, she heard a low rumbling sound overhead. Just as she was about to tell David, a fighter jet flew over them heading in the direction they came from. The jet dove down towards an apartment complex before pulling up and away. A few seconds later, the building exploded from the bombs dropped by the jet. "Looks like the military is targeting infested buildings." said David after getting up from his crouched position behind a car wreck. "Any idea which branch it belonged to?" asked Maya. "it looked like a JSF A-20 Razorback." replied David. "JSF?" exclaimed Maya, "Looks like they weren't kidding when officials said the Joint Strike Force was taking the lead." Looking back at the shambling that was originally chasing them, she noticed that they were shuffling towards the bombed out apartment buildings. "Well thanks to the JSF, It looks like we have a shot at getting to that checkpoint while the zeds are distracted." "True." replied David. " I suggest we get moving." Nodding her head in agreement, Maya slung her pack on and grabbed her bat from David. With everything set, they started walking north towards their destination. Both were oblivious to the UAV flying overhead.

"Sir, drone feeds confirm good hits on target." reported the drone operator. "Good." replied Captain James Grant, one of the JSF Officers assigned to operations in this region. "Tell Raven 2-1 that I said good job and to proceed with the next target." "Yes, sir" said the Comm tech in contact with the team. Looking back to the holographic map table in the middle of the CIC (Combat Information Center, Call-sign: Red Crown). Grant tapped a few icons to show the status of identified survivor strongholds. So far, most of the strongholds were under the protection of the military, Raven PMC forces and surviving law enforcement. A couple were marked as hostile, those being held by gangs or other groups seeking to take advantage of the chaos. 'Gen. Mitchell's orders on this matter was clear, to rescue and protect the innocent in this outbreak by any means necessary. This meant that if the hostile strongholds refused to cease hostilities, the military was authorized to conduct airstrikes or dispatch strike teams to neutralize them.' Thought Capt. Grant with a grim look.

Some new stations considered this to be an atrocity. However, the military stated they will do everything in their power to protect the people, even if it means eliminating the ones who choose to prey on their fellow man. While Capt. Grant was studying the Holo-map, Airman 1st Class or A1C Jaime Vega was piloting the MQ-9 Reaper drone to its next objective. While en route to the next way-point, the drone's camera picked up 2 life-signs making their way towards checkpoint charlie. With this info, it alerted its operator.

"Sir?" Vega called out. "What is it Airman?" responded Capt. Grant . "UAV has picked up 2 life-signs heading north on 10th street, Captain." "Any idea on who they are or where there heading?" "Intel analysts are running facial recognition on them now, sir." reported A1C Vega's navigator A1C Alex Burke. "As for their destination, it seems they're heading towards the blockade about 5 miles from their current heading"

"PFC O'Brian, pull up Checkpoint Charlie on the main screen." ordered Grant. "Yes, Sir" said O'Brian. "Pulling it up now, should be on screen any second." "Good" grunted Grant as he turned towards the large screen across from the Holo-map. A few seconds later, Checkpoint Charlie was displayed. The sight was not promising and had the CIC go quiet.


	3. Chapter 2

" _ **Attention, as of 0800 local time, Directive 51-Z is in effect. All Division personnel are to report to their designated meeting points for immediate deployment. Tactical division designation is Final Wave. Further information will be provided by assigned Division Commanders."**_

 _ **-Transmission broadcast to Division Sleeper Cells.**_

Red Crown CIC

Checkpoint Charlie was designated as a quarantine and evac center. It was located in the intersection of 10th street and Diamond road near a large park with open fields. The perimeter of the park was walled off with concrete barriers. The inside was split into 6 sections. 2 sections were dedicated to medical teams to be used as an aid station and quarantine zone for infected individuals. The next 2 sections were used as a landing and refueling section for evac and supply helicopters. The final 2 sections were used as a staging are for the T-Zero unit stationed there and a checkpoint between the screening area and the entryway into the camp. Any open space was used as a barracks for the camp security force and the cleared civilians waiting for evac.

What shocked Grant's CIC was the fact the entire camp was covered with bodies. Some of the bodies wore the CBRN suits used that medical personnel were issued, others bodies wore the dark gray uniforms of T-Zero officers. But, a large portion of the bodies wore civilian clothing. Some of the infected still loitered around. Some were feasting on the corpses, others just stood there motionless or wandered aimlessly.

After a moment, Capt. Grant cleared his throat and asked if anyone knew what had happened at Checkpoint Charlie. While this was happening, a man got up from his workstation and headed towards Grant at the holo-table. He wore a uniform like everyone else, only instead of Scorpion W2 OCP camo, his outfit had hex pattern colored in black and gray urban camo. A U.S. Flag was on his right shoulder. But what separated him from the military personnel was the patch on his left shoulder with an eagle with its wings spread out, with the letters SHD above its head and the Latin words 'Extremis Malis, Extrema Remidia underneath its claws. This man was a Division agent. More importantly, he was the Division Commander in charge.

"Captain Grant?" called out the Commander as he walked up to the table.

"Commander Shepard? Sorry, I forgot that you were present." Apologized Capt. Grant. Normally Grant would be offended and upset that the military was under the direct command of a government agency. However, since it was the Strategic Homeland Division, he had no ill will. He heard about the Division and how it performed with valor during the Green Flu outbreak despite several of its agents going rogue. They were also instrumental in guiding and advising the JSF units that were deployed to restore order in affected cities.

"That's alright, Captain. As you're aware, despite having strategic command of all personnel for this sector, we know to let you do jobs with minimal interference." replied the Commander. "also, I've to call me Aiden instead of Commander all the time, James." said Aiden with a smile.

Grant chuckled as he shook his head. "Aiden, being a former JSF officer, you know how we like maintain our military bearing."

Aiden grinned at that. "True, anyway back on task. I have a suggestion on how to find out what happened at charlie. You know about ISAC, correct?

"Of course." replied Grant. " We were briefed on it when we were mobilized. I believe it stands for 'Intelligent Systems Analytical Computer'."

"Correct." said Aiden. "one of the features of ISAC is the ability to recreate 3-D models of points of interest."

Aiden noticed that Grant and by extension the CIC was staring at him with skeptical looks.

"Excuse me sir, but I thought ISAC allowed us to create still images?" asked a female Airman from Ops. Aiden nodded his head in confirmation. "That's true, Airman. However upgrades to ISAC allows us to create 3-D videos from cameras, cellphones, basically anything that can record video and sound."

"how is that possible?" asked Grant. Although the rest of the CIC personnel didn't voice it, they were curious as well. "Unfortunately, that's classified." responded Aiden with a frown. All I can say is that involves the NSA and its classified programs.'

Aiden paused for a few seconds to see if anyone had any questions. No one asked. So he instructed them to return to their duties while pulling Grant to the holo-table. "Tell me James, whats the plan to get these civilians?" "honestly, we need to need to check if we have anyone available to begin with. Most of our manpower at the moment are guarding safe zones, conducting rescue ops, search and destroy missions or just making sure the infected don't overrun us."

"I see." said Aiden. "tell you what, while ISAC is creating the video. Ill check to see if we have any SHD agents nearby. I seem to recall a few fire-teams were in the area."

"Understood, come get me when its ready." replied Grant.


End file.
